Former Vice President Kamala Harris wants the Democratic National Committee to release its assessment of why and how she lost to President Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
DNC Chairman Ken Martin announced in December 2025 that he would not release the committee’s autopsy of the Democrats’ 2024 election loss, making a widely unpopular move to backtrack from his initial commitment to release the report to the public. He argued that releasing the autopsy could be a “distraction from the core mission” of the DNC.
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But the Washington Examiner has confirmed NBC News’s reporting that Harris, who is publicly weighing another bid for the White House in 2028, wants the report released to the public.
Harris did not know Martin was going to keep the autopsy report from the public until he made the announcement, and she has not discussed the report with him, according to the outlet’s reporting, which was confirmed to the Washington Examiner by a source familiar with Harris’s thinking.
Martin said when he made the announcement that “stakeholders from across the Democratic ecosystem” were aligned about the DNC’s mission regarding the 2024 election.
“We completed a comprehensive review of what happened in 2024 and are already putting our learnings into motion. And we’re winning again—even in places that haven’t gone blue in decades,” Martin said in his December 2025 statement.
“In our conversations with stakeholders from across the Democratic ecosystem, we are aligned on what’s important, and that’s learning from the past and winning the future,” Martin continued. “Here’s our North Star: does this help us win? If the answer is no, it’s a distraction from the core mission.”
The Washington Examiner has reached out to the DNC for comment.
The release of the report could provide a lot of clarity heading into the 2028 elections about where Democrats went wrong the last time, advocates have said. But people who agree with Martin’s decision have argued that the release could lead to more infighting and cloud the 2028 Democratic presidential primary.
Harris has publicly stated that she is “thinking about” another presidential run in 2028. Given her last whirlwind, 107-day campaign after then-President Joe Biden dropped out, Harris could have a proper go at a full-length campaign.
DNC CHAIRMAN KEN MARTIN BACKTRACKS ON RELEASING 2024 AUTOPSY REPORT
But the field is likely to be crowded and competitive, with a long list of big party names such as Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY), and Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL) reportedly mulling runs of their own.
Mabinty Quarshie contributed to this report.
